Submarine propulsion.



0. F. MURPHY. SUBMARINE PROPULSION.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 5. l9l5.

6 0 Q m 1 m M 5m Mr M .WL. M A T .i F 8 M a w m a a P p WITNESSES D. F.MURPHY.

SUBMARINE PROPULSION.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 5, 1915.

1 ,1 92,546. Patented July 25, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

INVENTOI? By T AUOR/VEYS D. F. MURPHY.

SUBMARINE PROPULSION.

APPLiCATION FILED OCT. 5. 1915. 1,1 92,546. Patented July 25, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3 INVENTOI? WITNESSES A TI'ORNEYS ED STATES SUBMARINEPROPULSION.

Application filed October 5, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL F. MURPHY, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Prince Rupert, in the Province of British lolumbia,Dominion of Canada, have invented a new and Improved SubmarinePropulsion, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to submarine vessels having any usual or commonform of means at the stern thereof or elsewhere for propelling thevessel forwardly or rearwardly, and one object of my invention is toprovide mechanism locatedpreferably at the bow and stern of the vesselwhereby the vessel may be readily elevated, lowered, or otherwisemaneuvered, either in conjunction with or independently of said usual orwell known propelling means.

A further object of my invention is to provide fins movable intoposition either beyond the hull of the vessel or into pockets formed inthe hull, and which fins, when in their outward position and properlyadjusted, serve to maintain the vessel at any desired. depth when thevessel is moving forward, this portion of my invention relatingparticularly to the means whereby the fins are moved into and out oftheir operative position and properly adjusted to secure the end orobject above referred to.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in themechanism associated with submarine vessels hereinafter referred to anddescribed.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of thisspecificationFigure 1 is a view illustrating the front portion or bow ofthe hull of a submarine vessel equipped with my invention, the viewbeing partly in plan and partly in section; Fig.2 is a similar viewshowing the front end orbow of the hull in side elevation, the viewbeing partly broken away to show various features of my inventionlocated within the hull; Fig. 3 is a view showing the bow of a submarinevessel as seen from a position in front thereof, this view being partlybroken away to show details of the fins referred to; Fig. 41' is a viewillustrating certain details of the operating means for the propellerwhich forms a part of my device, and Fig. 5 is a sideview in diagram ofa submarine showing my improved devices at both ends.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1916.

Serial No. 54,167.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 6 designates the frontportion or bow of a submarine vessel, which vessel will be equipped atits stern with any of the usual or common type of propelling means atpresent in use with submarine vessels. Extending forward and through thebow of the vessel, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is a rotating shaft 7,said shaft being operated in any way but preferably by means of anelectric motor shown at 8. A clutch 9 of any suitable form is interposedbetween the shaft 7 and the motor 8 in order to permit the shaft andmotor to be disconnected, as will be understood, said clutch beingoperated by a lever 10.

The rotary shaft 7 drives a propeller 11 located adjacent the bow of thevessel. The hub 12 of the propeller is provided'with a gear 13, theteeth of which are engaged by a driving pinion 14 fast upon the shaft 7,and through which pinion and gear the propeller is rotated about an axisat right angles to the shaft 7, as will be understood.

The propeller may be supported in various ways. I have, however,illustrated the same as supported by means of a supporting member 15carried by the shaft 7 and which supporting member is provided with atrunnion 16 upon which the hub 13 rotates, as best shown in Fig. 4.

Means are provided for adjusting the propeller 11 bodily about an axisextending longitudinally of the hull, this being accomplished by meansof a sleeve 17 surrounding the shaft 7, and having a. yoke 18 adjacentits outer end, within which yoke the supporting member 15, abovereferred to, is located, and which yoke carries two idler pinions 19with which the gear 13 of the pro peller engages. A third idler pinion20 is also preferably provided, this idler pinion running upon the shaft7, as shown in Fig. The purpose of the idler pinions 19 and 20'is tosteady the propeller as it is rotated by the pinion 14:, as will beunderstood. The outer free end of the shaft 7 is steadied by anout-board bearing 21, supported by means of arms 22, which in turn aresupported from thehull of the vessel to thereby steady the shaft andpropeller.

The sleeve 17 is provided with means whereby it is rotated about theshaft 7 as a center, said means being illustrated as comprising a wormgear 23 secured to the inner end of the sleeve and located within thehull of the vessel. A worm 24: is in operative engagement wit-h the gear23, which worm is shown as operated from the motor 8, through a sprocketchain 25, a reversing clutch 26, a shaft 27, and gears 23, although theoperating means above described may be varied, it being understood thatmy invention includes broadly any suitable means for imparting rotarymotion to the sleeve 17, whereby the propeller may be adjusted about anaxis extending longitudinally of the hull of the vessel.

The reference numeral 29 designates outwardly-opening recesses formed onopposite sides of the hull of the vessel, and 30 designates tworeciprocating and angularlyadjustable shafts, the outer or free ends ofwhich shafts carry fins 31. The inner ends of these shafts areoperatively connected with pistons 32, movable in cylinders 33 to whichair under pressure may be supplied from a storage tank 34:, throughsuitable pipes 35, to operate the pistons, suitable valve mechanism, notshown, being provided for controlling the supply and eX- haust of theair, as will be understood, the

exhaust occurring through the pipes 36. It therefore follows that assaid shafts are moved outward, the fins are moved out from the recesses29, and as said shafts are moved inward, said fins are drawn into therecesses 2-9, in which position they are entirely within the outline ofthe vessel and are not engaged by the water through which the vessel ispassing. The outer ends ofthese shafts are preferably steadied intwo-part bearings 37 located adjacent the outer portion of the recesses29, which bearings, being separate from one another, permit the fins topass into the recesses without interference, as will be understood.

The shafts 30 are shown as adjustable about their axes, to thereby varythe inclination of the fins 31, by means of toothed segments 38, thesesegments beingin driving connection with the shafts through elongatedkeys 39, which, obviously, permit the shafts to be moved to adjust theangularity of the fins without disturbing the driving connectionsbetween the segments and shafts. These segments 38 are engaged andoperated by means of worms 40, which worms in turn are driven throughgears, at 41, from an air-operated motor 42, which motor derives itssupply from the tank 34 above referred to. It will therefore be seenthat as the motor 42 is operated, the worms 40 are also operated, andmotion is communicated to the segments 38 and shafts 30 to adjust orvary the angular position of the fins 31. i v

The fins above referred to are intended to be used only when the vesselis being driven forward, as distinguished from when it is rising orfalling, this latter movement being produced by the propeller 11,although it will be appreciated that the fins may be used preciated thatby using the propeller 11, the

vessel with which it is equipped may be more readily maneuvered thanwould be the case if such propeller were not used. Such propeller may beso adjusted by means of the sleeve 17, that the vessel may be made tosink notwithstanding excessive buoyancy, or'to rise notwithstanding moreor less deficiency in the buoyancy of the vessel. The vessel may also bemoved more quickly in turning around or varying its course, thepropeller being arranged to rotate in a vertical plane during thismaneuver, as will be understood. Also, the vessel may be kept on an evenkeel better by the use of the propeller, this advantage being presentwhen the vessel is being driven at a very slow speed as is some timesdesirable.

As already indicated I preferably provide the propeller wheels 11 andtheir supporting and operating devices at both ends of the vessel- Thesewheels are adapted to be rotated around their trunnions 16 and alsorevolve around the axes of the shafts 7 either independently of eachother or in unison and also either independently of or in conjunctionwith the usual operation of the propeller P located at the stern. I

More definitely stated, if the wheels 11 both be revolved around theshafts 7 so as to lie in the same horizontal plane as indicated, forinstance, in Fig. 2, they would cooperate with each other when rotatedaround the trunnions 16 to propel the vessel bodily downwardly eventhough the propeller P be inoperative or with the vessel standing stillwith respect to forward or backward movement. In submarine practice itis frequently desirable to rise or sink while the vessel is stationarywith respect to forward or backward movement or while possibly moving atvery slow speed through the water. It follows, therefore, that in orderto raise the vessel quickly to or toward the surface of the water, thewheels 11 are revolved into a horizontal plane below the shafts 17 whenthey will both act to elevate both ends of the vessel simultaneously.Furthermore, when the wheels are adjusted in vertical planes, they mayact together, or one may occupy a plane on one side of the longitudinalaxis of the vessel and the other a plane on the opposite side, and whenthese wheels are rotated the effect will be to turn the vessel around avertical central axis for the purpose of making quick turns for anypurpose. Obviously intermediate results of these maneuvers may beeffected as may be found desirable in the practice of the invention.

WVhat I claim is:

1. In combination with the hull of a submarine vessel, a propellerlocated adjacent the bow of the hull; means for rotating said propeller;means for adjusting the position of said propeller about an axisextending longitudinally of the hull; two outwardlyopening recessesformed one in each side of the hull; a fin adapted to be moved into andout of each of said recesses; and means for moving said fins into andout of said recesses.

Q. In combination with the hull of a submarine vessel, a propellerlocated adjacent the bow of the hull; means for rotating said propeller;means for adjusting the position of-said propeller about an axisextending longitudinally of the hull; two outwardlyopening recessesformed one in each side of said hull; a reciprocating shaft associatedwith each of said recesses; means for reciprocating said shafts; a fincarried by each of said shafts and movable into and out of saidrecesses; and means for imparting angular movement to said shafts tothereby vary the inclination of said fins.

3. In combination with the hull of a submarine vessel, a propellerlocated adjacent the bow of the hull; means for rotating said propeller;and means for adjusting the position of said propeller about an axisextending longitudinally of the hull.

l-. In a device of the class described, the hull of a submarine vessel;a propeller located adjacent the bow of the hull; means for supportingsaid propeller; means for rotating said propeller; and means foradjusting said supporting means about an axis extending longitudinallyof the hull.

5. The combination with the hull of a submarine vessel, of a rotatableshaft extending longitudinally of said hull and through the bow thereof;a propeller driven from said shaft; supporting means for said propeller;and means for adjusting said supporting means about said rotatableshaft.

6. In combination with the hull of a submarine vessel, a rotatable shaftextending longitudinally of said hull and through the bow thereof; apropeller driven from said shaft; a rotatable sleeve surrounding saidshaft; means intermediate said sleeve and propeller and through whichsaid propeller may be adjusted about said shaft; and means for rotatingsaid sleeve about said shaft.

7. In combination with the hull of a submarine vessel, a rotatable shaftextending longitudinally of said hull and through the bow thereof; asupport for the free outer end of said shaft; a propeller adapted torotate about an axis perpendicular to said shaft; a rotatable sleevesurrounding said shaft and extending into said hull; means intermediatesaid sleeve and propeller and through which said propeller may beadjusted about said shaft; a gear operatively connected with the innerend of said sleeve; and driving means in engagement with said gear andthrough which said sleeve may be rotated.

8. In combination with the hull of a submarine vessel, a rotatable shaftextending longitudinally of said hull and through the bow thereof;driving means for said shaft located within the hull; a clutchintermediate said driving means and said shaft; a propeller driven fromsaid shaft; a rotatable sleeve surrounding said shaft; meansintermediate said sleeve and propeller and through which said propellermay be adjusted about said shaft; and means for rotating said sleeveabout said shaft.

9. In combination with the hull of a submarine vessel, a rotatableshaft-extending longitudinally of said hull and through the bow thereof;a propeller having a gear; a pinion carried by said shaft and inengagement with said gear; a rotatable sleeve surrounding said shaft andhaving a yoke; a supporting member carried by said shaft and locatedwithin said yoke and having a trunnion for supporting said propeller;idler pinions carried by said yoke and with which the gear upon saidpropeller engages; a gear located at the inner end of said sleeve, and aworm in operative engagement with said gear and through which saidsleeve may be rotated about said shaft.

10. In a marine vessel, the combination with a hull and means to propelit forwardly in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the hull, ofa'pair of auxiliary propeller Wheels carried at the ends of the hull,means for supporting the auxiliary propellers for revolution around alongitudinal axis, supporting means for rotation of the Wheels aroundtrunnions perpendicular to said axis, and means for controlling theposition and rotation of the auxiliary propellers.

DANIEL FRANCIS MURPHY.

Witnesses:

DANIEL W. Monnissnr, JAMES C. BRADY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

